Azumanga Daioh: Take Five
by twobeekeepers
Summary: It's been five years since the gang left school. Now they are all reunited once more - which means having to get to know each other all over again. What has changed... and what hasn't changed at all?
1. Chapter :I: Home

**.CHAPTER :I: HOME.**

_This is the first fanfiction I have ever written. I apologise if it's atrocious. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it! _

_Azumanga Daioh belongs to Kiyohiko Azuma. Yay for him!_

* * *

"Miss Sakaki!" cried Kaori, slamming the front door behind her. "Sakaki, darling, I'm home!"

There was no response from Sakaki. Kaori stomped round the lower floor of the house, going from room to room, trying to find her. She paused in the living room for a moment to pick up a framed picture of her beloved from the mantlepiece. Stroking the seventeen year old Sakaki's cheek, forever immortalised in the photograph (which was starting to discolour due to being in the sunlight for so many years), she cried out once more. "Sakaki, sweetheart! I'm home! Where are you?"

She gasped as she heard a THUD! from the bedroom up above. "Oh!" she murmured, smiling knowingly. "That's where you're hiding."

Kaori leapt up the stairs two at a time and turned to the bedroom door. She clicked the door open and slowly peered inside.

Sakaki was stretched out across the bed. She looked half-asleep, but still very elegant. Very beautiful indeed.

Kaori walked over to where she lay, and stroked her head. "Wake up, sleepy," she whispered. "I'm home now."

Sakaki's eyes opened and she purred loudly, happy to see her friend. She got up on her paws and walked around the bed a few times, before settling on Kaori's lap.

"Hey, kitty," Kaori murmured softly, stroking the cat's silky fur. Sakaki meowed.

* * *

Ayumu Kasuga had walked around the airport gift shop five times. The first time she bought a teddy bear holding a banner saying 'Welcome Home'. The second time she bought a newspaper. The third time she bought a pen to do the sudoku in the newspaper. The fourth time she bought a sandwich. The fifth time she wandered around trying to see if they had brought in any new stock since the fourth time.

It had been seven years since she last saw Chiyo Mihama. Her little pig-tailed companion had been in America, at university. They had kept in touch by email over the years, and now, for the first time in so long, Chiyo was coming home.

"I hope you recognise me!" Chiyo had written in her last email. "I'm a little taller now. And I don't wear pigtails anymore!"

"I'll recognise you, Chiyo," replied Ayumu. "How could I ever forget what you look like! But still, maybe it would be for the best if you wore your hair in pigtails... just in case."

Thinking she heard someone call her name, she looked up expectantly. But she was disappointed. She turned back to her sudoku. She was normally good at them, but this time she just couldn't do it. Where was Chiyo? Was she at the right airport? Was the flight delayed? Had the plane crashed? _Oh god. Chiyo's dead. Chiyo's dead Chiyo's dead Chiyo's dead Chiyo's_

"OSAKA!"

Ayumu hadn't been called that in years. She had lost touch with almost everyone from school. Apart from the occasional email from Chiyo, she had no contact with anyone from her school days. They had all moved away and lost touch.

"CHIYO?"

Their eyes met over the crowd.

"CHIYO!"

She did look different. She was definitely taller. Her face had aged - she was eighteen now, roughly the age that Ayumu was when they had last seen each other. Her clothes were business like - she wore a casual suit and a dark red beret. However, underneath that beret were a pair of long, orange pigtails.

The two young women fought their way through the crowds until they reached each other. Ayumu flung her arms around her friend. "I've missed ya so much, Chiyo!"

"I'm home now, Osaka!" cried Chiyo. She was smiling so much she thought her face would crack in two. "Home to stay!"


	2. Chapter :II: Thanks

**.CHAPTER :II: THANKS.**

_Hurrah, second chapter. _

_Azumanga Daioh belongs to Kiyohiko Azuma. Yay for him!_

* * *

"So what are your plans now that you're home?" asked Ayumu, helping Chiyo to pile all her bags into the back of a taxi.

"Well, tomorrow I'm hanging out with you. Remember?" replied Chiyo, smiling knowingly.

"Of course I remember!" Ayumu nodded vigorously. "I'm not the forgetful type!"

Chiyo laughed. "Good. On Sunday I'm meeting Miss Sakaki for lunch, and in the afternoon she's going to show me the surgery where she's working at now."

"Sakaki's a doctor?" asked Ayumu.

Chiyo shook her head. "No, she's a vet, silly. You remember. She went to veterinary college."

Ayumu nodded. "Of course. So you're still in touch with Sakaki? I had no idea."

Chiyo's face broke into a smile again. "Yes! I'm in touch with pretty much everyone from school! I'm hopefully going to visit Tomo and Yomi next week... that's if Tomo ever replies to my email..." Her face suddenly fell, and her voice trailed off to a whisper. However, Ayumu was oblivous to her friend's sudden change in mood.

"Wow," she said. "I wish I still spoke to those guys. Those were good times! But I have no idea what's happened to anyone. Apart from you. And Kagura. But everyone knows what happened to Kagura!" Ayumu laughed, and Chiyo smiled once more, remembering what had happened to her athletic friend since they had parted ways.

Kagura was always devoted to sport. Every spare moment she got was spent training. You were always guaranteed to find her in one of two places: either jogging around the field or swimming in the pool. She had always been one of the top atheletes in the year. Everyone knew she would go far.

And so she did. The year before, Kagura had picked up a silver medal at the Olympics, for swimming. Since then, she had been one of the biggest stars in Japan. Everyone knew her name; her face. Everyone remembered the speech she had given after she won the medal, the tears running down her face from exhaustion and emotion, the endless stream of a hundred thank yous all directed at the same person: Minamo Kurosawa.

"I want to dedicate this to Minamo Kurosawa! I wouldn't be here without you! It's all down to you! The best coach a girl could ever have! Thank you, Miss Kurosawa, thank you so much!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in an apartment not so far away, a phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"NYAMO!" yelled the voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Yukari. It's eleven o clock at night. I have to teach a class tomorrow. So do you. Go to bed."

"Let's go out!" shouted the voice.

"Let's not," replied Minamo.

"No. Let's go. I'll come round and pick you up. Actually, you should come and pick me up. Yeah, pick me up. I'll see you at eight?"

"Yukari, it's eleven."

"Okay. I'll see you at half eleven. Put on a nice dress. I don't know why you don't wear dresses more often. You look good in a dress. You have nice legs. Probably because you're a PE teacher. Yeah, you PE teachers... with your... legs..."

"Are you drunk?"

"..."

"Yukari?"

"Can I come over? I'll bring a movie."

"No."

"..."

"Go to bed, Yukari. Try and be sober for class tomorrow."

"It's Friday night!"

"It's Thursday night!"

"..."

"I thought it was Friday night. Can we go out on Friday night?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Yukari."

"I am the queen of the trampoline!"

Minamo hung up the phone, and crawled back into bed.


End file.
